Honkbalweek Haarlem 2018

Let’s catch up with… Robert Eenhoorn

With the Baseball Week coming up we look at “Let’s catch up with…”: a weekly article where we catch up with (old) baseball players, referees, volunteers and supporters and rake up some memories.

Robert Eenhoorn:Short stop at Neptunus, Haarlem Nicols, Dutch Team, Anaheim Angels, New York Mets and New York Yankees. Coach at Neptunus and the Dutch Team.

The most beautiful memory of the Baseball Week:

“I remember that as a little boy I was very impressed by the big stadium and all those baseball players from abroad. Watching beautiful matches, brought sandwiches from home. It was really a day out. And of course, I secretly dreamed of ever being there. The Baseball Week is one of the most beautiful tournaments you can experience. A sold-out house, fantastic opponents, the pacemakers at third base. The 1st time in a full Pim Mulier felt the same as the 1st time in a full Yankee stadium. As a coach, you are of course on the other side of the lime line and you experience such a tournament very differently. The highlight of that period is the winning of the final against Cuba in 2004. With this win, the Dutch Team won the Baseball Week for the first time.”

Favourite player:

“I used to have a poster of Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson in my room. He was also called ‘The Man of Steal’. An incredibly good batsman and baserunner. If you had told me then that we would ever play together with the Anaheim Angels then I probably would have thought you were crazy. When I started playing in the big league, there were also boys that I looked up to. Marcel Joost, Haitze de Vries, Frank Bos. I still remember my transition to the Haarlem Nicols. I suddenly stood between those dudes on the field. At the Yankees I grew up as a pro, that really is club number 1 for me. In today’s baseball, I have a lot of respect for players like Didi Gregorius, Xander Bogaerts and Jonathan Schoop. They’ve already proven to be of great value to Major League Baseball. “

Do you still do something in baseball?

“I have not touched a baseball or bat since I stopped. It might sound weird, but I don’t really feel that need. My son played baseball once or twice, but he liked the children more than the game, haha. One day, he was sitting in the dugout with a parrot on his shoulder and he didn’t watch the game at all, I knew he was going to have a different career than me, haha. In daily life, I am still busy with sports. That will surely be the nature of the creature. It’s all or nothing. “